Best Web Hosting in Australia — Go Global or Stay Local?

VentraIP fully deserves a top spot when it comes to the best web hosting in Australia. It’s a large-scale organization that has the capacity and workforce to provide stellar services to businesses of every size. Clear terms, next-gen technology — what more can you ask for?

Over 150,000 customers utilize the company web servers in Sydney and Melbourne.

VentraIP Features

VentraIP has divided its shared accounts into three plans:

• Starter — for startups and personal blogs
• Freedom — for SMBs and online shops
• Premier — for enterprise and high-traffic projects

The packages seem pretty robust — SSD storage, 100% CPU allowance, free SSL certificate.

But that’s not even half of it.

Forget about the lousy limitations on hosted websites. VentraIP offers unlimited email accounts, monthly traffic, and a number of databases.

If you think it can’t get better than this — think again!

This Australian website host puts a strong focus on your data. Some providers back up accounts daily or every couple of days. VentraIP does that hourly.

Yes, that’s right — your data is saved and stored in a separate location, thanks to the Acronis Cloud Backup software.

Talk about safety precautions!

Support

One thing I quickly learned about the Australian hosting market is that providers are not very fond of the live chat option in their support communications.

And by not very fond of I mean almost no one offers it.

But. I was thoroughly satisfied with the level of email support here. VentraIP was fastest to respond among all reviewed providers, and its replies were detailed enough to cover any further questions.

VentraIP User Reviews

Web hosting reviews in Australia point out VentraIP as a quality provider, but also reveal some chinks in their perfect armor.

• Trustpilot score: 3.5 out of 5 (12 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 6.0 out of 10 (26 reviews)

Clients are generally very happy with the value they get from their package, as well as the helpful support. The fact that the host is actively answering to user reviews is another warrant for excellent customer care.

Most of the user issues are related to billing.

While most of the time it’s just a case of clients missing their renewal dates, the company might want to improve on their notification policies.

VentraIP Plans and Pricing

• Starter+ – from 9.95 AUD/mo
• Freedom+ – from 19.95 AUD/mo
• Premier+ – from 29.95 AUD/mo

When we talk about cheap hosting in Australia, VentraIP is certainly not the first name that springs to mind. While fairly affordable, the provider still charges at least 9.95 AUD monthly for its entry-level accounts. Doesn’t matter if you’re prepaying the month or a whole three years in advance – the rate is still the same.

Still, first-time customers get a 50% discount, meaning you can drop the price down to 4.95 AUD/mo.

Crucial web hosting is one of the top providers in Australia due to its excellent infrastructure and feature-packed accounts. Still, the service might be better suited to larger enterprises and corporations, because of the cost. Crucial’s web hosting prices can’t fit any budget, but the high-end servers are well worth it.

The shared servers utilize one of the most modern facilities of the Australian Pacific Data Centers (APDC) in Sydney.

The provider is one of the best-rated companies, according to Australian reviews.

Crucial Features

One thing I noticed all over the website, the Crucial team boasts how its services aim to be of use to the small and startup user.

The shared accounts here are packed.

Just look at the basic plan — you can host only two domains (one primary and one addon), but you have 50GB of storage space. Keep in mind the average website rarely exceeds 1-2GB. You have 50!

And the free extras just keep on rolling — Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, daily backups, DDoS protection.

Support

Like the plethora of Australian hosts, Crucial also provides 24/7 support via phone and ticketing. While browsing the company website, however, I noticed a popup for a live chat.

I got connected almost instantly, but my attention was drawn to something.

Hey, I recognize the name and photo — I was just talking to the same girl in the Pacific Digital live chat. As Crucial and PD are sister companies, it seems that they share their support operators as well.

As far as the scope of expertise goes, the representatives can assist with email account setup, R1Soft backups, Softaculous software installs, and firewall configuration.

If you are looking for some helpful tutorials, Crucial’s knowledge base contains 250+ helpful guides on different essential topics.

Crucial User Reviews

One quick look at the online reviews and you can tell Crucial is offering some of the best web hosting in Australia. There are plenty of happy local clients who sing praises of both the shared hosting and rented server solutions.

• Trustpilot score: 4.3 out of 5 (55 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 7.6 out of 10 (3 reviews)

Crucial’s 84% excellent ratings in TrustPilot is an impressive achievement that inspires trust in the company’s services.

Since going under the Digital Pacific hat, though, the provider has received some deserved criticism for hiking its prices and neglecting support at times.

Crucial Plans and Pricing

• Web Hosting – from 22.90 AUD/mo
• Web Hosting Plus – from 32.90 AUD/mo
• Web Hosting Advanced – from 42.90 AUD/mo

Everything points to the fact that Crucial is a platform for high-end enterprises.

What I mean is Crucial’s prices are far from affordable for the average client. Standing tall at 22.90 AUD/mo, even the cheapest account costs far more than with other shared providers. You can even find VPS hosting in Australia that comes for less.

You get a small discount if you want to prepay the whole year in advance – the entry-level deal would then come at 19.09 AUD/mo, shaving about two months of your hosting bill.

Panthur targets the small businessman, and it certainly shows. You’ve got all the essentials to establish your professional project and let it flourish. All that while keeping a tight budget and investing in other important aspects of your online business.

US web service provider Deluxe Corporation acquired Panthur in 2017 through its subsidiary Hostopia Australia. The same consortium holds some of the biggest local brands, like Digital Pacific and Crucial.

Panthur’s servers still remain on home ground today — in the APDC data centers in Sydney.

Panthur Features

Panthur offers a wide variety of deals. The Economy Hosting packages seem most appropriate for our purposes today.

So, what do we have there?

The plans all pack the same features; their only difference is resource allocation.

Think of the extra perks — free content delivery network, SSL certificate, a premium website builder — you have them all, even on the cheapest plan.

There is a limitation on the number of websites you can host on each plan, though:

• 1 on the Mini plan
• 4 on the Advanced plan
• 6 on the Professional plan

While this seems ok for the first two tiers, many Australian website hosts will allow you to build unlimited projects on a Pro plan.

Support

All prospective customers can contact Panthur 24/7 via phone and email. Existing clients have the added option of ticketing support. A server status tab will also show you if there are any service interruptions and what the company is doing about them.

So far, so good.

My email to the Panthur support contained three simple sales questions, so I expected a prompt reply.

Unfortunately, the provider took over 48 hours to send a response, and the answers were as short as they come. That might be alright for a sales conversation, but if you have technical difficulties, you’d want to know the support team is swift and efficient.

Panthur User Reviews

It’s always best to check multiple websites for hosting reviews in Australia as the results might greatly vary. That’s exactly the case with Panthur.

• Trustpilot score: 4.7 out of 5 (145 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 6.2 out of 10 (14 reviews)

If you just look at Trustpilot, the company reputation is almost spotless. Everyone seems delighted with the server performance, excellent customer service, and uninterrupted uptime.

Other websites paint a different picture, though.

Although it’s still a solid host, Panthur’s reputation seems to be getting more controversial, especially after the company’s acquisition a couple of years ago.

Panthur Plans and Pricing

• Mini – from 6.00 AUD/mo
• Advanced – from 11.00 AUD/mo
• Professional – from 16.00 AUD/mo

Panthur’s ace in the sleeve is undoubtedly the affordable pricing.

The Mini package starts at just 6.00 AUD/mo, and that’s on a month-to-month billing. Prepaying for the yearly deals can drop the price further to the whopping 4.80 AUD/mo.

Now, this is what I call cheap web hosting in Australia!

Upon signup, you can also opt-in for a dedicated IP, which is just 5.00 AUD/mo additionally.

Digital Pacific is undoubtedly a trusted and experienced host. Having a strong financial back, this company won’t disappear overnight.

Protecting the environment is one of Digital Pacific’s core values, and PD is proud to keep its services 100% carbon neutral.

Two (green) thumbs up for that choice.

The US consortium Deluxe Corp. acquired Digital Pacific in 2017 in a deal worth US$52 million.

The company web servers reside in the APDC data centers in Sydney. Still, it won’t be a big surprise if parent Deluxe Corp. decides to move operations to a more cost-efficient location.

Digital Pacific Features

Whether you need personal, business, or cloud hosting in Australia — you can find all kinds of deals here. But let’s focus on the Personal offerings with Digital Pacific.

So you only have a choice of two plans — Basic and Standard — and I have to say neither looks very impressive.

The first plan only gives you 1GB space, 10GB monthly bandwidth, and two email addresses. Might be good enough for starters, but you will probably outgrow it pretty soon.

The Standard deal appears more generous – you now have 5GB space, double the traffic, and a good 100 email accounts you can assign to your team.

Both packages include a few extras as well, with the daily backups and DDoS protection being the most notable.

Support

While Digital Pacific advertises round-the-clock phone and email support, I was delighted to find a popup for a live chat as well.

I only had one question in mind:

The company website stated the Basic plan came with 2GB web space, while the page with more details reveals only 1GB.

So which one is it?

Should’ve been a simple question, but I spent the next ten or so minutes going back and forth with the operator who was clearly working off a template.

At some point, it dawned on me — many Australian web hosts are owned by the same corporation, so the operators are probably assisting clients on multiple brands.

At the end of the day, she couldn’t explain this peculiar difference but promised to pass the case to the site developers.

Digital Pacific User Reviews

Digital Pacific is a well-known provider of web hosting in Australia, and you can tell that by the sheer number of client reviews. Unlike many competitors, there are hundreds of testimonials about DP that you can check before you make a final decision for a future host.

• Trustpilot score: 4.6 out of 5 (414 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 6.0 out of 10 (26 reviews)

Overall, the reviews are predominantly positive. Digital Pacific is reliable enough for most small and medium business owners and efficient in its support dealings.

The negative reviews raise an alarm, though.

Far too many clients have problems with DP’s email services to be just a coincidence. So, if you’re planning to host your online communication with the company, you better double-check if the configuration would be suitable.

Digital Pacific Plans and Pricing

• Basic – from 9.90 AUD/mo
• Standard – from 12.90 AUD/mo

Prices for the Digital Pacific shared hosting accounts start from 9.90 AUD/mo, but that’s just the month-to-month rate. As with other similar hosting sites in Australia, there is an even bigger discount if you decide to go for a long-term deal. The same Basic package, for example, drops to 7.47 AUD/mo if prepaid for three years.

Signing up, I found no add-ons that could enhance my services with Digital Pacific.

There is a supposed third plan here, but it’s an entirely custom deal, and you have to contact support for that.

SiteGround is topping many reviews for web hosting in Australia for a reason.

To serve clients from all over the world, SiteGround has strategically chosen its data center locations for best coverage. You can choose between:

• Iowa, US
• Chicago, US
• Amsterdam, NL
• London, UK
• Singapore, SG (best for Australia)

Hands down, SiteGround offers one of the best web hosting in Australia, even without a server location in the land down under. Robust infrastructure and feature-rich accounts pair up with the most amazing support to create the perfect solution for online businesses. Not the cheapest out there, but certainly worth every cent.

SiteGround Features

One benefit of choosing a global provider is it can often present a more affordable and feature-rich solution than its local counterparts.

It’s no surprise, really — Australia is not the cheapest country when it comes to technology services.

And yet, SiteGround manages to impress when it comes to how much more it has to offer:

Speed is of the essence, so SG turbocharges your account with the proprietary SuperCacher plugin that will skyrocket your page load times. You can start with a 10GB account and grow from there.

I really like how SiteGround explains the bandwidth limits. Novice clients rarely have an idea of what 100GB or 1TB traffic means — they need something more specific.

Like monthly user visits.

You get approximately 10,000 on the StartUp plan, 25,000 on the GrowBig package, and 100,000 with the GoGeek deal.

See? Clear as day.

A free drag-and drop site builder, CDN, and SSL certificate are available with every account. As you grow, you can upgrade and get more advanced control and management features.

It’s worth mentioning SiteGround is one of the closest partners and active contributors to the WordPress project. So if you want to host a WP website, you can safely start your search here.

Support

When it comes to proper customer care, few can compete with SiteGround.

24/7 assistance via phone, chat, email, and tickets.

First ticket response within 15 minutes.

Always friendly and ready to help.

It sounds so simple, and yet so few hosts choose to focus on that.

My live chat (as always) was very fruitful and confirmed my good impressions of the SG support. The operator asked all the right questions and delivered the information in a comprehensive manner.

I also sent a support ticket with a WordPress installation issue. Sure enough, the reply came in 10 minutes with my fresh install ready to turn into a stylish website.

Excellent customer care goes a long way, and so will SiteGround.

SiteGround User Reviews

When you see a provider with thousands of online reviews – you can be sure that’s one of the biggest players on the market. And that’s not just for web hosting in Australia – few come even close to SiteGround’s customer base.

• Trustpilot score: 4.7 out of 5 (5,184 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 9.7 out of 10 (2,224 reviews)

The amazing thing with SG is it manages to keep almost everyone happy, a plausible achievement in today’s business. The provider’s strong focus on in-depth support and technology improvements are well-appreciated and continue to add positive credit to the SiteGround brand.

SiteGround Plans and Pricing

• StartUp – from $6.99/mo
• GrowBig – from $9.99/mo
• GoGeek – from $14.99/mo

SiteGround is looking to provide the best small business web hosting, and the prices certainly match that notion.

SG account prices start from $6.99/mo, and even the first-tier deal packs enough features to grow a business easily.

How about extra services?

SiteGround has its own 24/7 monitoring service, which you can add for just $19.80/year. The site scanner constantly watches over your websites and notifies you in case of any suspicious activity.

The best Australia web hosting provider isn’t necessarily IN Australia, but it sure helps. Packing a significant amount of server power and a ton of useful features, the FC accounts not only come at a reasonable price but are strategically placed in a Sydney data center. The impeccable Support Team is just the cherry on top.

While FastComet is a relatively new provider, it doesn’t lack the necessary expertise. It might have operated for just over five years, but the core team has at least 20+ years of combined experience.

FastComet Features

FastComet offers cPanel web hosting in Australia through three shared packages:

The FastCloud option is optimized to host a single website, whereas, on the Plus and Extra plans, you can have as many as you wish.

The provider is pretty generous when it comes to server resources — even the lowest plan will give you 15GB SSD space, 2GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, and around 25,000 monthly visits.

Along with this sweet deal, you get a free Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, and no-cost data migration.

Support

FastComet is definitely one of the very few hosts that come close to matching SiteGround’s level of customer care.

You can find live help 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email. Existing customers can also utilize a ticketing system for technical questions.

All that and a bag of tutorials and KB articles.

The live chat operator connected within seconds and showed immense knowledge from the get-go. I didn’t let him get off easy and bombarded him with all kinds of pesky sales questions, but he was clearly well-prepared.

You are certainly in good hands with FastComet.

FastComet User Reviews

Another top-rated host on our list, FastComet is very keen on keeping a perfect reputation. Judging by the flattering reviews, existing users seem to appreciate the effort.

• Trustpilot score: 4.7 out of 5 (962 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 9.6 out of 10 (874 reviews)

One significant advantage is that FastComet actually has a server location in Australia. The strategically-placed Sydney servers do a magnificent job for local clients, establishing FastComet’s services as one of the fastest web hosting in Australia.

Even when the rare issue arises, the FC team is quick to try and find a resolution.

FastComet Plans and Pricing

• FastCloud – from $2.95/mo
• FastCloud Plus – from $4.45/mo
• FastCloud Extra – from $5.95/mo

The prices for the FastComet bundle look lucrative as well — starting from $2.95/mo, the basic plan is more affordable than what many local Australian hosts can offer. Just keep in mind this is an introductory price so the renewals would be steeper.

You can boost your account even more with some paid add-ons. This includes:

• Search engine optimization – $9.95 one-time fee
• Search engine submission – $4.95 one-time fee
• Google Sitemap generation – $14.95 one-time fee

Hostinger might very well be one of the best choices for web hosting in Australia. Its shared services provide SMBs an excellent opportunity to start their online presence with minimum investments. The low prices have little effect on the account features, and users still enjoy the full hosting experience on all service levels.

Hostinger utilizes seven interconnected Tier-3 data centers around the world — in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Lithuania, Brazil, Singapore, and Indonesia.

The latter two provide the best connection and speeds for server and domain hosting in Australia.

Hostinger Features

Entering the hosting world with Hostinger couldn’t be easier. Startup clients have three plans at their disposal.

As with other similar providers, the cheapest plan is optimized for a single website, while the next tiers give much more creative freedom.

All accounts give you access to Hostinger’s proprietary control panel, which is quite user-friendly and easy-to-navigate.

Hostinger spares no resources when it comes to speed optimization. The entire hardware is supercharged with a server-side content caching, SSD drives, and automatic server deployment.

Support

Email and ticketing are the primary means to get support assistance with Hostinger. Both are available 24/7 and easy-to-be-found on the company website.

Phone and live chat are not an option, even though there is a “let’s chat” button on the Contact Us page.

For what it’s worth, their email replies were prompt and on point, much better than what I got from most of the local Australian providers.

As for self-helpers, there are separate pages for tutorials and knowledge base articles. The information inside is quite detailed and can prove to be an immense help for first-time users.

Hostinger User Reviews

There are thousands of user testimonials you can find about Hostinger, but it’s hard to sift out only the hosting reviews in Australia. That’s because the company operates with many subsidiaries all over the world, which can dilute the specific local information you’re looking for.

• Trustpilot score: 4.5 out of 5 (1,533 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 9.3 out of 10 (1,671 reviews)

I dug deeper and managed to find some reviews about Hostinger’s Australian services in question, and they were highly positive. The clients seem to agree this provider combines excellent support and affordable prices quite well, which wins them even more fans.

Hostinger Plans and Pricing

• Single Shared – from $0.99/mo
• Premium Shared – from $2.89/mo
• Business Shared – from $3.99/mo

But the Hostinger prices are the real kicker.

Starting from a mere $0.99/mo, you can get reliable web hosting in Australia for less than a Starbucks coffee.

Renewal prices are also lower than what most hosts can offer to new clients.

Want to get a daily backup solution? It’s just $0.95/mo

In need of an SEO toolkit? You can secure one for only $9.99/mo

Getting priority support is essential when you have technical issues. You can enjoy this for just $1.99/mo, billed yearly.

It’s incredible how Hostinger manages to make a profit with such low rates.

ChemiCloud Features

ChemiCloud is always riding the wave of service innovations, and that’s why every shared client can take advantage of a highly secured cloud architecture.

Choosing between the three feature-packed plans very much depends on your needs.

The Starter deal is perfect for hosting a single website, giving you 15 GB SSD space and unlimited bandwidth. There is a free domain attached to the package.

Upgrading to the Pro and Turbo deals means that your website is growing and getting more popular. You can now equip your account with turbo boosters, one-click backup restore, and priority support.

If you are a complete beginner, every plan will offer you a comprehensive drag-and-drop site builder, allowing for quick and easy access to the online world.

Support

ChemiCloud comes up with multiple ways to connect you to its support operators. There is a live chat and phone line for any sales questions, as well as an online contact form. Billing and technical help are available 24/7 for existing customers via internal ticketing helpdesk. As such issues require more swift assistance, ChemiCloud guaranteed you’ll get your first ticket response within minutes.

I never waited more than 15-20 seconds to connect to an operator in the chat. I’ve had very fruitful conversations with the support team, and they were always very polite and detailed in their replies.

On the downside, you won’t be able to find any videos or tutorials to help with essential questions and FAQs. If you can’t find a way to solve your issue – you have to rely on the company support.

ChemiCloud User Reviews

Reading through the client testimonials quickly gives you the sense that ChemiCloud might very well be the best web hosting in Australia.

• Trustpilot score: 4.9 out of 5 (105 ratings)
• HostAdvice score: 9.9 out of 10 (437 reviews)

The cloud provider almost hits the perfect scores across multiple review platforms, signifying that their spotless reputation is well-deserved. There are plenty of recent testimonials as well, giving extra assurance that ChemiCloud is on the right track.

Servers, navigation, uptime, support – there is hardly anything CC doesn’t excel in.

ChemiCloud Plans and Pricing

• Starter – from $2.76/mo
• Pro – from $4.86/mo
• Turbo – from $7.66/mo

All of ChemiCloud’s Australia web hosting plans are neatly discounted, offering a very affordable entry in the online world. First-time users can get a 65% price cut, but that one applies to a three-year contract only.

Surprisingly enough, the Starter deal only comes with biennial and triennial billing plans, no lower periods available.

At least there are some reasonably-priced add-ons you can include upon signup – RapidSSL ($39.95/year), SpamExperts ($108.00/triennially), Marketgoo SEO Tools ($179.64/triennially).